Drew University Library : University Archives : Theses and Dissertations
    
author Brynne M. Growney
title Masking Up: The Impact of Political Ideology, Empathy, and Conformity on People's Choice to Wear a Mask in the COVID-19 Pandemic
abstract COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States was in February 2020 and by mid-March, all 50 states, Washington D.C., and four U.S. territories had reported cases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). The CDC and WHO reported many ways to combat the spread of COVID-19; one prominent way was wearing a face mask, an effective yet inexpensive way to stop transmission of infection. However, many people were still choosing to not wear a mask when they were out in public, including in states that required face coverings.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of what impacts people's views of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and their mask-wearing behavior in the United States. Previous research established the efficacy of mask-wearing as well as the importance of political ideology in predicting who will wear a mask. However, less was known about predictors of people's mask-wearing behavior in the United States specifically in response to COVID-19. This study examined political ideology, belief in science, tendency toward conformity, and levels of empathy in predicting mask-wearing behavior. An online questionnaire was distributed using Amazon mTurk, and consisted of demographic questions as well as the Face Mask Perception Scale, Belief in Science Scale, COVID Attitude Networks Survey, Ideological Consistency Scale, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and the Social Conformity Versus Autonomy Scale.

The data suggest that participants, on average, reported a tendency to find mask- wearing somewhat uncomfortable, but knew where to find masks and could do so somewhat conveniently; participants were only slightly bothered by the appearance or attention that mask-wearing created. Participants also reported moderate to high levels of empathy and favored autonomy over conformity. Politically, participants were slightly more moderate to liberal than conservative, and reported a moderate to high belief in science. Political ideology was a predictor of a majority of the mask-wearing variables, with liberals more likely to follow public health guidelines about mask-wearing and to report fewer concerns and less discomfort with those policies; moderates tended towards similar beliefs as conservatives when it came to almost every variable except for belief in science, where they were more similar to liberals. Future research should use a larger and more representative sample as well as questions that are lower in face validity to examine the original hypotheses. It could also focus on groups that do not fall along the behavioral lines of their political ideology, like college students or conservatives who are getting vaccinated and wearing masks, or how to incentivize those who are less inclined to get inoculated.

school The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
degree B.A. (2021)
advisor Jill Cermele
committee Hilary Kalagher
Seung-Kee Lee
full textBGrowney.pdf